Pendle Dogs: Animal rescue claims it's in crisis due to influx of 'unwanted' dogs in Burnley and Pendle

Pendle Dogs claims it is struggling to find homes for man's best friend left waiting unclaimed on "death row" in dog pounds and to afford the costs of taking them in and providing veterinary care, calling their work a "non-stop" job.

Paula Knowles, the charity’s manager, believes the rise in abandonments in the area is due to people overbreeding the animals during and since the COVID-19 lockdown before putting them on the streets when they become too old to sell.

"We're bringing these dogs in from death row. It's just non-stop. We have a massive influx of dogs from every direction. The whole country is flooded with unwanted dogs. It's harder than it's ever been. Every rescue is struggling. The UK rescue system is in crisis. But not every area is as bad as here. Up North, we have more than our fair share.

"Our main aim is to save the stray dogs. A dog in this country gets seven days [in a pound]. If a rescue doesn't come in, it will be put to sleep. We're permanently against the clock.

"Those dogs are no longer getting reclaimed. The figures are ridiculous. They're just left, so we have to get them out.

"It's the fall-out from lockdown. Dogs are being bred to excess. We have some coming in at three or four years old who have already had puppies. There are pedigree breeds we never dreamed would turn up unwanted and unclaimed, lining up in dog pounds. It's sad. In the past few weeks, we've had seven or eight Spaniels. You wouldn't have seen them at one time.

"The saying was 'dogs were worth more than gold' during Covid. You get people jumping on the bandwagon and breeding them. We've had full litters of puppies handed in because people can't sell them."

The charity, which also runs North West Pound Dogs, believes the Government should help stop people over-breeding animals.

"It's just one big mess, and we're trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. It's not going to stop any time soon. We'd like to see people stop breeding these dogs. You're wasting your time. There’s no money to be made in it. In an ideal world, we'd hope the Government would step in and do something about it. The problem has been ignored.”

Paula says finding new homes, which must be pet and child-free for safety reasons, is "hard," as they have no history of the dogs when they rescue them.

Many rescued canines are in a "bad state," and medical care costs the charity "hundreds of thousands" of pounds. It also claims it pays an average of £6-8,000 a month to put the animals in kennels. And its van, vital for moving dogs from pounds to kennels nationwide, is on "its last legs."

For information about how to support the charity, from donating to fostering or coming up with fundraising ideas, please visit https://pendledogs.co.uk/ or send an email to [email protected]